Abortion Laws : A Pro-lifer’s View From a Catholic Perspective

By Amita Braganza –

The year 2019 saw a very serious challenge in India to pro-lifers, especially anti-abortionists like our NGO, Respect for Life India (RFLI). In July 2019, three women introduced a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court of India, challenging the existing Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act of 1971, and asking for legal abortion to be allowed up to 24 weeks and in certain cases even up to all nine months of pregnancy.

The laws of the land as at that time allowed abortion up to 12 weeks with the written recommendation of a doctor and up to 20 weeks with the recommendation of two doctors. That is still the case.

As the then President of RFLI, I took up this matter seriously, as I was convinced that it was something that we had to fight against. Some of us at RFLI thought that we had to be bold and put out into the deep, precisely as Jesus Christ commanded Simon Peter to do. RFLI took up the challenge to speak out on behalf of the most innocent and defenceless lives, little babies in their mothers’ wombs. Towards this end, we have filed an Intervention Application (IA) in the Supreme Court of India in this PIL case. We await the honourable court’s hearings in the matter.

Meanwhile, the Indian Parliament, in March this year, introduced a Bill seeking to amend the MTP Act to allow abortion up to 20 weeks on the advice of just one medical practitioner and from 20 to 24 weeks on the advice of two medical practitioners; to increase the upper limit for termination from 20 to 24 weeks for certain ‘vulnerable’ categories of women; and to remove this limit altogether in the case of substantial foetal abnormalities diagnosed by a Medical Board.

The Catholic Church teaches that abortion is a mortal sin. It is against the Fifth Commandment, “Thou shalt not kill.” It is as simple as that! The baby in the womb, or ‘en ventre sa mere,’ in legalese, is a living human being. No one should have a right to kill it, whether by an Act of Parliament or otherwise. Yet, very many Catholics the world over do not take serious cognisance of this commandment in its application to abortion. Many unmarried men and women, teenagers and youth indulge in pre-marital sex, committing the serious sin of ‘fornication’ which St. Paul so harshly condemns. The sin of fornication comes under the umbrella of the Sixth Commandment, “Thou shalt not commit adultery.”

What happens if a pregnancy occurs in these cases? Most often, it would get terminated by the choice of either or both partners, leading to a mortal sin under the Fifth Commandment. Thus it happens that one grave sin leads to another.

Even Catholic married couples sometimes resort to killing the unborn child if an unwanted (or ‘accidental’) pregnancy occurs. No life is ever an accident, as all life is sacred from the beginning, involving the creative action of God.

I would like to draw attention to the fact that, as Catholics, we are bound to the instructions of Catholic teachings and not to the laws of the land if they run contrary to each other. In fact, the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that ‘formal cooperation’ in abortion incurs the penalty of excommunication, which extends not just to the mother who freely submits, but also to the doctor, nurses and anyone who directly aids in the act.

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Amita has a Master’s Degree in Economics from the Delhi School of Economics. She is an Independent Financial Advisor based in Bangalore. She is also a Poet by hobby, posting on Medium, as well as on her YouTube channel called #PoetForLives. She is a mother of six children, is active in her Parish Council, and is an ardent pro-lifer.